Fire-escape



2 Sheets-Sheet l.

(No Model.)

J. C. LUND.

PIRE ESCAPE.

Patented Apr. 1'7, 1888.

M 15W M A i. www# No Il (No Model.) 2 Sheets-*Sheet 2.

J. C. LUND.

FIRE ESCAPE. No. 381,478. Patented Apr. 17, 1888.

N PETERS, Phow-Lnhagmpher. wasmngwn, nv c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OEI-Ica JOHN C. LUND, OF EAU CLAIRE, VISCONSIN.

Fl REI-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 381.478, dated April 17, 1888.

Application filed July 30, 1887. Serial No. 245,690.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN C. LUND, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Eau Claire, in the county of Eau Claire and State of Visconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of as much of a building as will illustrate the application of my invention, one escape being shown at one window as it appears when notin use, and another escape being shown at another window in use. Fig. 2 is afrontview of the mechanism within the inclosing-casing, with the forward portion ofthe frame andthe mechanism thereon removed, so as to more clearly show the clamping mechanism. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the same; and Fig. Ll is an end View of the apparatus and of the track, showing the end of the inclosing-casing of the apparatus broken away.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

My invention has relation to that class of fire-escapes in which suitable slings or other supporting devices are secured to opposite ends of a rope passing through a suitable friction-clamp, so that the person descending will raise the other sling, and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of such a device, which is supported by rollers upon a rail passing around the building and has means for drawing it to any window or other opening in the wall of the building and means for regulating the .frictional pressure automatically, so that the heavier the burden upon the rope the heavier the `friction upon the rope becomes, so that light and heavy persons will descend with the same velocity, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral l indicates a rail, which is supported upon the wall, preferably above the windows, by means of brackets 2, which consist of straight outwardly-projecting portions 3 and upwardly- (No model.)

projecting portions 4, to the ends of which the rail is secured. Apulley, 5, is journaledin the rail at each window, and a cord, 6, passes over this pulley down to the window, having its other end attached to the escapc,whieh travels upon the rail. rIhe frame 7 of the escape is provided with two eyes, 8, at the upper edge, into which eyes two straps, 9, are secured with their looped lower ends, 10, and the upper ends of the strap are doubled, as shown at 11, and have grooved sheaves 12 journaled in them, the said sheaves traveling upon the rail, the downwardly-doubled portions of the straps 'projecting down upon the inner sides of the rails and of the vertical portions ofthe brackets. The upper doubled ends of the straps are connected by means of a rod, 13, and the cord for drawing the device in place is secured to an eye, 14, at the endof this rod.

Two levers, 15, are fulcrumed with their inner ends at both sides of the central portion of the frame of the escape mechanism and have laterally-proj ecting eyes 16 at their outer ends,

with which eyes they slide upon vertical rods 17,secured upon the sides of the frame at the ends of the same and having coiled springs 18 wrapped around them and bearing against the eyes of the levers and against the lips 19, in which the lower ends of the rods are secured. The inner ends of the levers cross each other within the frame and have the under sides of the inner portions bearing against a curved yoke, 20, which is connected by means of coiled springs 21, secured to the concave under side of the yoke,to a similar friction-yoke, 22, having the springs secured to its upper convex side, the concave under side of this yoke bearing against the escaperope 23, which at the middle of the frame passes over a convex friction-block, 24, secured within the sides of the frame. The rope passes under two convex and downwardlyfacing friction-blocks, 25, at each side of the central block, and passes thereupon over two pulleys,26, journaled in the lower ends ofarms 27, pivoted tothe levers a short distance inside of the eyes at the ends,whereupon the ends of the rope pass downward out of the frame.

rIhe levers are provided with two'pairs of laterally-projecting eyes, 28, a short distance inside ofthe arms supporting the pulleys, and these eyes slide upon vertical rods 29, projectlower ends ofthe arms supporting the pulleys i are.` formed with laterally-projecting studs 32, which form bearings for the trunnions 33 of the pulleys, and these studs slide in vertical guide-slots 34 in the sides of the frame, the outer eyes of the levers sliding likewise in vertical slots 35 in the sides of the frame.

Two pairs of arms,36, are pivoted with their upper ends to the leversv near the inner ends,- and the lower ends of these arms are pivoted to the ends of bolts 37, projecting out through vertical slots 38 in the sides of the frame at the middle of the same from a block,39, 'and this block is provided with two downwardlyprojecting rods, 40, having coiled springs :41 wrapped around them and projecting. through and sliding in theA inner ends of a pair of brake-levers, 42, fulcrumed between thelower edges of the sides of the frame at bothsides of the middle of thesame, the lower 'ends of the springsbearing against the eyed ends of the said levers. The outer short arms'of these levers are formed with screwthreaded perforations, in which fit and turn'two setscrews,

43,and the ends of these set-screws have brake# shoes 44 secui'ed upon them, the screwsturning in the brakershoes, and these'shoes bear against the rope from below, clamping it against the two downwardly-facing frictionblocks.-

It will now be seen that when one end of the rope is drawn down bya person hanging on toit, or by any article being suspended from it, the weight upon the rope will-draw -it out between the brakes and frictionsblocks; but as the weight upon the rope is increased 'the downward pull upon the pulleys will beincreasedftilting the levers down, which will cause them to bear with increased force upon the central brake-shoe, and likewise through' the arms upon the block sliding. in the lower portion of the frame, causing. the-said block to bear down upon the inner ends of the brakelevers and the brake shoes upon the outer ends of the levers to bear up against the rope. The friction will thus be increased upon the rope with the increase of the weight upon the same, so that the speed of the descent will at all times be the same, regardless of the weight upon the rope.

By having the springs interposed between the central yoke and the central brake-shoe or yoke, and by likewise having the springs interposed between the central sliding block and the inner ends of the brakelevers,the increased pressure will be somewhat modified and eased, so that the rope may lslip between the shoes and friction-blocks, and the springs will also prevent any uneven places of the rope to stop the progress of the same, the pressure being uniform upon the rope without regard to the diameter of the same at different places. The

rope passes out of the frame through two apertures, 45, formed between the lower edges of the side pieces of the frame, and the rope is providedwith two yielding stops, 46, which may alternately strike the apertures and prevent the rope from sliding up too far into the frame, the said stops being so adjusted that they will stop the rope when the supportingsling is opposite the window and the other sling is at the ground, so that `the person 1n the sling at the ground may` get out conveniently 'and may reach the ground without injury, and the person in the building may reach the sling conveniently and seat himself or herself with ease.

The supporting means may either be simply a stirrup, 47, for the support of a foot, a strap or sling, 48, for securing around the waist, and

a loop, 49, for holdingon with the hands, or it` may be the more elaborate sling or support which is shown at the other end of tlierope 1n Fig. l, and which consists of a strap, 50, for

passing around the body under the arms, a

strap, 51, forming a seat, and a strap, 52, for j securing around the waist, the straps passing around the body havingl suitable means `for` connecting their ends, such as hooks and eyes 53 or otherfastenings.` Y

The entire apparatus is preferably inclosed in a casing, 53, secured to the supportingstraps, and the rope is coiled up withinthis casing and rests upon two arms and a rod connecting them, the said arms being numbered 54 and the rod being -niimbered55.

The arms are pivoted upon the ends of the.'

frame near the upper side of thesame, and arms or bracketsv56 project from the ends of the frame near the lower edge of the sanie,the said arms and brackets havingitogglelarms 57 pivoted to them, bymeans of which the lower beveled ends, 58, of the pivoted arms may be drawn down to rest against -the ends of 'the brackets and to standobliqucly. A

Cords 59 are secured to the joints of the tog,` gle-arms and pass through eyes 60 upon the ends of the frame, from which they pass around one side `of the frame and pass downward through an eye, 6l, at the center of the frame, hanging Within convenient reach from the window when the casing and frame are drawn above the window, so that by drawing-the cord the rope-supporting arms may be tilted down and allow the rope which rests -upon them to drop. y p

Having thus described my invention, Iclaim and desire to secure' by Letters Patent of the United States- 1.- In a fire-escape, the-combination of 'a rail passing ,above the windows or similar openings and supported by brackets consisting of outwardly-projecting portions and upwardlyroo IIC

projecting portions having the rail secured to their ends, straps support-ing the apparatus and having the upper ends doubled and hav 'ing pulleys traveling -upon the rail journal'ed a pulley in the rail abovethe window to within reach of the window, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

2. In a fire-escape, the combination of a frame having frictional devices, a rope passing over the frictional devices and having means for supporting a person, arms pivoted upon the ends of the frame and connected by a rod, brackets projecting from the lower portions of Vthe ends of the frame, toggle-arms pivoted to the arms and to the brackets, and cords secured by their ends to the joints of the togglearms and passing through eyes upon theends of the frame and upon the middle of the frame within reach of the place of exit, serving to tilt the rope-supporting arms down, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

3. In a frictional fire-escape, the combination of two levers fulcrumed near the middle of the frame and crossing each other and formed with two pairs of eyes projecting laterally from the outer portions, coiled springs wrapped around vertical guide-rods projecting into the eyes of the levers and bearing upward against the eyes, an upwardly-facing convex frictionblock at the middle of the frame having the rope passing over it,a brakeyoke having theinner portions of the levers bearing against its upper convex side and bearing with its concave under side against the rope above the friction-block, two downwardly-facing convex friction-blocks at the ends of the central block, arms pivoted to the outer portions of the levers and having pulleys journaled in their lower ends and having the rope passing over them, levers pivoted in the frame at the middle of the same and having the outer short arms provided with upwardly-facing concave brake-shoes bearing against the rope and the friction-blocks and having eyed inner ends, a block bearing against the inner ends of the brakelevers,and arms pivoted to theinner portions of the upper levers and having the lower ends pivoted to the block, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

4. In a frictional hre-escape, the combination ofaframe having two vertical pairs of slots near the ends of the side pieces and two vertical slots in the middles, two levers fuleruuled at their inner ends, crossing each other at both sides of the middle of the frame and having two pairs of laterally-projecting eyes at their outer ends, vertical guide-rods for the eyes upon the outer sides of the frames, having coiled springs bearing upward against the eyes of thelevers,arms pivoted to thelevers between the eyes and having laterally-projecting studs at theirlowerendssliding in the verticalslots of the sides ot' the frame and forming bea-rin gs for the trunnions of pulleys journaled between the ends of the arms,an upwardly-faeing convex friction-block at the middle of the frame, two downwardly-facing convex friction-blocks at the ends of the central block, a curved yoke having the inner portions of the levers bearing against its convex upper side and having coiled springs secured to its concave under side, a curved brake-shoe secured with its convex upper side to the lower ends 7 ofthe springs, a block sliding in the middle of the frame and having laterally-projectingbolts and downwardly-projecting rods having coiled springs around them, the laterally-projecting bolts slidingin the central vertical slots, two levers fulcrumed near the center of the frame and having adjustable upwardly-facing concave brake-shoes at their short outer arms and having the eyed inner ends sliding upon the rods of the central sliding block bearing against the springs, andthe rope passing over the convex central block and under the side blocks and over the pulleys, as and for the purpose shown and set forth.

5. In a frictonal lire-escape, the combina- 85 tion ofa frame having suitable frictional devices, a rope passing through the frame and the friction devices, stirrups and slings upon the rope for supporting a person, and yielding stops securedl upon the rope to bear against the perforations in the under side of the frame through which the rope passes, stopping the rope with one sling outside of the window and the other at the ground, as and for the purpose shown and set fort-h.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOI N C. LUND.

Vitnesses:

OLE Noi-3R, A. C. LARsoN. 

